Chocolate chip, nut, oat cookies

 Background: I admit I'm a bit into baking sweets these days.  It's partly that we're in the tail end of covid, and its the depth of winter, but its mostly that we had a broken oven for about 8 months in our new house, and I'm making up for lost time baking!  I like to bring treats around the department every month or two.  I <try> to make them semi healthy, so finding this recipe stocked with oats and seeds and half whole wheat was exciting!  Its also somewhat low on sugar.  I've shared with many people in the department and everyone has been a big fan.  They are described as chewy, nutty, and light.  I admit I can eat four in a row.  This recipe comes from NYTimes and is not changed much from their recipe

    Dry Ingredients:

•     ½ cup whole-wheat flour
•     ½ cup all-purpose flour
  
•     ½ teaspoon baking soda

    "Wet" Ingredients:

•     4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature <-- very important, room temp, not cold and not melted
  
•     ½ cup sugar (or mix of brown and white sugar)
•     ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (omit if using salted butter)
•     1 egg
•     1 teaspoon vanilla

    "Other stuff": (mix and match as you like, I used them all, but feel free to sub e.g. chopped walnuts)

•     ¼ cup sunflower seeds
•     2-3 heaped tablespoons pumpkin seeds, chopped up roughly
  
•     1-2 tablespoon chia seeds
•     ½ cup rolled oats (can be omitted for a lighter, less chewy cookie- but I prefer with them)
•     8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut in 1-inch pieces, or chocolate chips
  
•     1-2 tablespoons ground flax powder
  
•     1-2 tablespoons of wheat germ
  

    
    Instructions:
    Now, the official recipe uses a stand mixer but I don't have one and it can totally be done by hand.  So I will explain it with that method.  You need a fork, two bowls, and two baking sheets.
    
    Mix flours and baking soda in one bowl.
    
    In another bowl, add butter, and cut roughly with a fork into 8 or 10 chunks.  Add sugar.  Now you do what is called 'cream' the butter and sugar.  You repeatedly press the sugar and butter down with a fork until the butter basically absorbs the sugar and is more creamy almost like a frosting.  
    
    Add egg and vanilla and cream/ mix more until they are incorporated.  
    
    Add flour/ baking soda mix to butter mix and mix with a fork.  Use a gentle turning motion, turning and cutting the lump of butter until it incorporates the flour and becomes a dough and you don't see specks of flour.  It should only take a minute or two, don't do this for a long time.
    
    Add seeds, oats and chocolate chunks and mix in gently with just 5 or 10 turns of the fork- again don't overmix.
    
    Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (better than aluminum foil- very easy to remove).
    
    Spoon dough with a small spoon, form into rough ball about 3/4 inch across, and place 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
    
    Bake 14 to 15 minutes, rotating baking sheets from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking if you want to make them all evenly cooked though it doesn't make much difference in modern ovens which typically have a fan.
    
    Remove from oven and slide parchment off the baking sheet and onto a work surface. Allow cookies to cool for at least 20 minutes before storing in an airtight container.

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